The second-year back, who spent all of last year on the Washington Redskins' practice squad, looked good running the ball. He was decisive, quick to the hole, and he had a sneaky way of dodging through traffic to make the most out of each carry. He wound up with 98 yards on 18 carries. Mason also caught a touchdown pass from Colt Brennan, improvising like a veteran as the rookie QB rolled out of the pocket.

Naturally, such a performance has some calling Mason a lock to make the final roster.

Not so fast, my friend.

Barring injury, Mason has a very small chance of making the final 53. It's a numbers game, as simple as that.

The Redskins will carry 25 players on offense. Three will be quarterbacks, three will be tight ends. Nine offensive linemen is the bare minimum and even at that at least one of your reserves has to be ready to play two positions, more if one of them is inactive.

That leaves ten spots for backs and receivers. Five wide receivers will make the team; six is a possibility, as discussed here earlier. If that happens, the extra spot is likely to come out of the allotment for the defense and there will be 26 offensive layers.

Portis, Betts, and Cartwright all will make it and none of them is well-suited to play fullback. That means that either Nemo Broughton or a player to be named later has to stick as the backup to Mike Sellers.

The end result is that there is no room for Marcus Mason. The best his supporters can hope for is that he lands on the practice squad again.

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At this stage of his career, Jackson is a well-known deep threat. While much of the 2016 season has been disappointing for Jackson, in back-to-back weeks, the vertical passing attack has worked. In Arizona last Sunday, Jackson only caught one pass, but it went for 59 yards. On Thanksgiving in Dallas, Jackson hauled in a 67-yard touchdown pass from Kirk Cousins as part of his season-high 118 receiving yards.

"What he brings to this football team, he brings something that not a lot of people can bring, and that’s obviously the speed and the big play ability," 'Skins head coach Jay Gruden said of Jackson.

The last two games moved Jackson's yards-per-catch average back in normal range with the rest of his career at 16.5. Halfway through this season, Jackson was averaging below 14 YPC, which would have been by far the worst of his career.

"A lot of people think that we haven’t utilized his speed quite like we should, but I think he has had a major impact on this football team," Gruden said. "His deep threat has an impact on the defense. It opens up areas for Jordan Reed and Jamison Crowder and the backs sometimes. He’s been a major influence for this football team in a good way."

Beyond just the big plays, the Eagles defense has given up 645 passing yards in their last two games. Cousins has historically played well in Philadelphia, and should be in good position to do the same this weekend.

And based on the Eagles' past six games, expect Jackson to have another big game at Lincoln Financial Field.